One crow: A counting rhyme

by Jim Aylesworth, Ruth M. Young (Illustrator)

Summer turns to winter in this rhyming counting book, whose bucolic illustrations have a pleasingly old-fashioned look and feel. Ages 2-6.
Copyright 1990 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Genres: Picture Books, Mathematics, Counting

32 pages, Paperback

Published January 1, 1988

About the author

Jim Aylesworth was born in Jacksonville, Florida but as an infant moved from the state. He lived in many places during his childhood: Alabama, Indiana, Georgia, Tennessee, Texas... but by the time Aylesworth was 15 his family had settled in Hinsdale, Illinois and that is where he graduated from high school in 1961.

In 1965, he graduated from Miami University in Oxford, Ohio with a B.A. in English. He returned to Hinsdale and began a career as a stockbroker. By 1970, however, Aylesworth was thinking about what he really wanted to do. After a series of assignments as a substitute teacher, Aylesworth ended up in a primary classroom. He began teaching first grade students in Oak Park, Illinois in 1971 and entered Concordia College in River Forest, Illinois, to earn a graduate degree in elementary education -- a goal he reached in 1978.

But it was his work with children that brought him the most reward. It was Aylesworth's experiences as a teacher that eventually led him to writing children's books.

Reviews

[Allison · Rating 4 out of 5]

Genre: Picture Book- Counting Book
Awards: None
Audience: Pre-K to Kindergarten
A. I knew this was a counting book for a two different reasons. First being the title, which calls it a counting rhyme. Second, on every page there is a large orange number in the bottom left corner that counts along with the story. The story increases by one on each page, such as three puppies and four kittens.
B. The illustrations in this book look like they were composed using watercolor, which is interesting, as it really ties into the setting of the story, which is on a farm. It makes everything look more rustic and farm-like. I also like that the artist used thin lines, so as to not focus on one thing more than another in the picture. These two aspects really help the child focus on the counting of the items mentioned in the story, instead of being distorted by anything too odd or noticeable in the illustrations.
C. I would use this as a whole-group shared reading with kids who have just finished learning their numbers 1-10. This would be at the very beginning of a school year. I would read the story, the children would chime in to help count on each page, and they would get to enjoy hearing a nice rhyming story while practicing their counting. I would then use this as a prompt for my students to build their own counting story, where they got to color a picture of something and create a page in a class book.
D. In the summer section, how many puppies were wagging their tails? There were three puppies wagging their tails.

[Dolly · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is an interesting story, with two sets of counting pictures, one for the summer and one for the winter. The rhyming narrative repeats as well and is easy for children to follow. Our girls enjoy counting the animals on the page.

[Mary Hand]

I like this because it teaches two different skills math and rhyming. It is always good when you can slip learning into things kids are actually enjoying. I think kids learn better when they are having fun. I think this book is fun.

[Courtney Howard]

This books works on counting different animals, it also talked about winter and summer. It would be good for children learning to count because it says the number and you can count how many animals on the page.

[Lindsey Gibson]

This book counts different animals throughout summer and winter. I could give the class worksheets that have animals on them for students to count.

[Jazzmyne · Rating 3 out of 5]

One crow is a counting rhyme that also introduces seasons. I would use this book in Kindergarten to introduce seasons as well as counting.